Jezebel

American  

[jez-uh-bel, -buhl] / ˈdʒɛz əˌbɛl, -bəl /

noun

1. Also Jezabel (in the Bible) the wife of Ahab, king of ancient Israel.

2. Often jezebel a wicked, shameless woman.

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Jezebel British  

/ ˈdʒɛzəˌbɛl, -bəl /

noun

1. Old Testament the wife of Ahab, king of Israel: she fostered the worship of Baal and tried to destroy the prophets of Israel (I Kings 18:4–13); she was killed by Jehu (II Kings 9:29–37)

2. (sometimes not capital) a shameless or scheming woman

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Jezebel Cultural  

1. In the Old Testament, an immoral, cruel queen of Israel who attempted to kill Elijah and other prophets of God.

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A “jezebel” is a scheming and shamelessly evil woman.

Other Word Forms

• Jezebelian adjective
• Jezebelish adjective

Etymology

Origin of Jezebel

First recorded in 1550–60 Jezebel for def. 2; from Hebrew Izebhel, of uncertain origin and meaning, -zebhel perhaps representing the divine title “prince”

Example Sentences

Kennard appealed the judgment, claiming that the case harmed her reputation and cost her income—on the stand, she said she had been called a stalker, a liar and a Jezebel.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 18, 2026

West, one of the grande dames of the movement, got her start at Seattle alt-weekly the Stranger and spent years excoriating fatphobia, online misogyny, and male entitlement for the ur-millennial-feminist site Jezebel.

From Slate • Mar. 31, 2026

One is Lindy West’s 2013 Jezebel piece she wrote in the wake of debating Jim Norton concerning comedy’s role in perpetuating rape culture on the canceled FX series “Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell.”

From Salon • Aug. 10, 2024

Last year, G/O Media shut down Jezebel, a pioneering feminist website, and then sold it to Paste Magazine.

From New York Times • Mar. 11, 2024

I will never be cast as a Jezebel type.

From "Watch Us Rise" by Renée Watson and Ellen Hagan